Ocean Breath
by TheBookOfStories22
Summary: Samanthalassa is a curious, young mermaid loyal to her family and her kingdom. But when her eighteenth birthday comes around, she makes choices that open up a whole new world to her touch, and her to another's. (Or basically, Scam's a yummy prince, Sammie's a crushing mermaid, and general awesomeness just might ensue...) ;)
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! So, I know you probably hate me by now for disappearing for so long, but unfortunately, that was my only choice, as things really changed a lot around me.**

 **I also couldn't update anything I'd done for my other stories, because my computer died ( _died_ died) and I lost everything I'd ever put into them...**

 **Sad life notes aside, this brain worm came at me randomly, and I had to run with it before it abandoned me and made me lonely again...**

 **This is, strangely enough, a Totally Spies Little Mermaid combination. Yup. I'm serious.**

 **I was actually really shocked by how well it seemed to flow the further I got in, and it should only be between 2 and 5 'chapters', so I think I can actually really finish this!**

 **Hope you guys enjoy! (Also, it's not a canon rehash, so don't worry about mashing square pegs into round holes! There should be some interesting twists coming up eventually after part 1).**

* * *

Samanthalassa sighed as she let her emerald gaze search outside her coral window. Windows didn't actually mean much in her kingdom, as she could merely swim out of it and down to the sandy bottom with no consideration at all.

She twirled a loose strand of her floating orange-red hair, tangling it elegantly into her seashell crown. Her golden armbands and bracelets were in the right position, and she had the sheer golden skirtlet around her waist to match her gold-decorated seashell brassiere.

Normally, even high-class mernobility wore less adornments, but as princess of Atlantica, and secondary leader to WOOMP, she had an obligation to be properly dressed for her birthday ball.

There was a knock at the door, before her bestest friends Cloversa and Alexandrana swam in with wide smiles.

Cloversa's parents were still upset at the dishonor that came with her cutting her hair to reach her shoulders, while Alexandrana's had never held much on tradition. Personally, Sam cherished her long strands of red-gold hair, though she never dared to say it.

Both were wearing bronze armbands to denote their status in WOOMP, and some pretty earrings and coral beads to match their tails, but neither were as golden and shiny as she was. (Something that made both her and Cloversa jealous in opposite ways at times.)

"Are you ready, Sammie? The guests are getting a little impatient down there..." Clover seemed excited, but then again, she was probably eager to see Blaine, her newest crush.

"I-I don't know..." She took another glance at herself in the mirror, and felt herself doubting herself. Which unfortunately wasn't new.

"Oh Sammie, you look beautiful and you know it! Now let's go before Jerry gets antsy. You know how he gets!"

Sam laughed despite herself, and looped her arms with her friends, grinning as they swam to the ballroom, where their entrance was heralded, and she was motioned to swim over to her father.

"Crown Princess Samanthalassa Oceania the First, to her father, King Jeremy Oceanic the Protector!" Appalause rang out, and Sam kept a gentle smile on her face as her father's warm hand affectionately touched her shoulder.

There was a moment of silence for the deceased Queen Gabrielle, Sam's dearest mother, before the obligatory speech to commemorate WOOMP like every year on her birthday.

WOOMP, the World Organization of Mermanic Protection, was established by her father King Jeremy, known as 'Jerry' to his agents, after Sam's mother met her death by filthy pirating _humans_.

As such, the mermanic world was restricted to never visit the surface unless expressly permitted as part of the WOOMP protective guard to observe and ensure the fishing patterns of the filthy humans hadn't changed.

Her father was especially proud of her, Princess Samanthalassa, for having risen in the demise of her mother to be WOOMP's best agent, and secondary commander of its forces (though her father never allowed her to make any decisions herself). He also commended Cloversa, a daughter of Atlantica's mernobility, and Alexandrana, whose family had moved to Atlantica from another seastation, for being such great friends and companions as well as his other best agents accompanying his daughter.

Then, the performance began. Samanthalassa was expected to sing for all the partygoers gathered before them as she shared her mother's beauteous voice, something essential in a mermaid's skill-set.

 _My ocean's waves rise, my ocean's waves fall,_

 _Atlantica's king protecting us all,_

 _The tides change, the oceans rise,_

 _One day may we lead to the humans' demise._

 _The sea is high, the sea is low,_

 _Our kingdom is safe down far below._

Always the same words, as some kind of anthem, before tremendous applause and seeing her father smile proudly.

Then the party commenced and she and her friends greeted all the guests before having their swirl cards filled. And when finally the festivitites were through, the girls would be able to eat what remained of the feast.

It was a tried and true routine by now, but Samanthalassa was well-trained in keeping her silent boredom from reaching her face. She had a duty to her kingdom and her father, and she would not let them down.

Clover easily filled two swirl cards worth of partners, while Alex only shyly danced with a few mermen, only lighting up and opening up when asked about Coralball, her favorite sport.

Sam, of course found a few partners as well, but they never made her feel... _anything_.

Love was a human concept, but merpeople often felt a spark in their chest at touch, which meant they'd found the right merperson for them. (If you had a spark upon touching two merpeople, further investigation was required.)

But Sam never felt this _spark_. Never allowed herself to feel much of anything under her mask of obligation to her kingdom and her father.

Though all of that was about to change.

 **-/-|^|-\\-**

She couldn't sleep.

After the party celebrating her eighteenth year, Samanthalassa had said goodnight to Clover and Alex, and then been escorted to her room (safety was a big thing, though sometimes illogical considering the whole windows thing). After derobing of her finery, and putting on her favorite shimmery green clambra, Sam had tried to sleep. She really had.

But for her, the night was the one time that she could let go of the fancy expectations, and do what _she_ wanted to do.

And considering that all the _other_ WOOMP members were taken up to see the surface on their eighteenth birthday, that was her plan.

Honestly, even though Sam knew her father was only doing it to protect her, she thought it wasn't fair that he put her in charge, but never gave her any of the typical privileges that being in charge yielded. (Like actually being allowed to tell people what to do and make your own choices).

Her father tended to command merpeople to his throne room through whirlpools, and the one time she'd tried to bring up a trip to the surface, he'd whirlpooled her back to her room.

Sam was honest. Sam was dutiful. Sam was loyal to a fault.

But she was not a slave.

It was funny how these sentiments only came to her at night, when no one was around to hear her rant, and no one caught her leaving or lectured her.

She'd never even told Clover and Alex about her dream to see the surface world, or her secret studying of human texts, because she knew they wouldn't get it.

Clover's biggest problem was dealing with Mandra, and Alex's was Coralball. Neither of them shared her deep longing to explore, and more importantly, _understand_ everything around her.

Why were the humans so cruel? Were really none of them redeemable? (That was like declaring all merpeople evil!)

How did those stick appendages they had instead of a tail work? (There was a word for them, something like leegs... She wasn't sure... Reading the different human languages was difficult, especially in the texts that didn't survive their trip under the surface. Which was most of them.)

No one would really notice she was missing.

"And where do you think you're going?" Sam jolted as Heptarus' deep baritone voice sounded behind her.

Sure enough, her best octopus friend and confidant was watching her from the ceiling.

"Out..." She hedged, blushing at being caught as Heptarus ejected from the ceiling, jetting closer to narrow his eyes at her.

"We both know _out_ never means anything good, Princess."

"That's only _your_ opinion, Heptarus. Besides, we were only almost eaten by a shark once!"

"I'm still scarred for life." He said flatly, jetting past her and out the window. "Since I can't dissuade you from whatever stupid thing you're about to do, let's just go and do it before we get caught and I get blown up."

Sam beamed at her truly best friend. "You're the best Heptarus!"

"And don't you forget it." With that said, Sam gathered her fishnet bag in case they found anything interesting on their excursion, and then sneakily swam out her window, and past the guards patrolling the coral palace.

Only a couple of minutes of a practiced routine later, they were home-free. Sam made sure to pass one of the taller coral shelfs out into a widely uninhabited region of ocean before beginning to swim upwards.

The ocean was truly deep, and the upward swim spanned a certain amount of time, despite her gifted fins propelling her far faster than a human could ever hope to swim.

During this time, Heptarus attached himself to her back (much like a human knapsack) to save himself the effort of trying to reach the surface, something that would take him far longer.

Samanthalassa spun as she torpedoed towards the barrier that seperated the ocean from where the strange light usually shone on the other side.

She was barely a foot away from it when she hastily swerved into a stop, staring at the barrier apprehensively. It was dark on the other side now.

Disobeying Father to explore shipwrecks was one thing, but breaking his express rule to never, _ever_ go to the surface was another.

She couldn't be sure that humans wouldn't scoop her up the moment she surfaced, and cut off her tail and torture her.

All she had was faith.

And curiosity about the weird popping sounds she could faintly hear from this side.

The redhead took a deep, gasping breath, letting her gills calm her before carefully, slowly reaching her hand out to pierce the veil between her and a whole other world.

She didn't account for the continuously moving surface of the water, and suddenly found her hand exposed without warning to a strange vacuum.

The green mermaid gasped, hastily withdrawing her hand below the surface, before giggling.

That was strange.

Carefully, she reached her hand out again, kicking upward with her tail to slowly let her head gently pierce the surface as well.

It felt like a vortex. That was the only way Sam could reasonably explain this beautiful and strange new sensation upon her skin.

Once, when she was a child, her father had become angry with her after she'd wandered off, and put her at the center of a vortex, where all was calm, and her skin tingled because she couldn't feel the water. It'd scared her then, and she'd promised Daddy to never run off again.

But now it was exhilerating.

Sam let her torso meet the cool and crisp sensation as well, still keeping relatively low in the water to retreat should any threat emerge.

It tasted about the same to her gills, but thinner, and a certain element was missing.

"Air." Heptarus croaked from his forgotten position on her back.

"What?" Sam asked, intentively listening to whatever explanation Heptarus could have for this wonder.

"Air. This is what the humans breathe instead of water. I don't see what's so special about it though. This stuff is so thin that it can't protect them from anything!"

Samanthalassa giggled, amused and pleased at her friend's sagess.

"I think it's wonderful! Look at their barrier," She pointed up at the sky, "Do you think they can cross that barrier like I crossed the surface?" Heptarus shifted.

"I doubt it. Humans aren't very intelligent, Princess. They probably have never even thought about it."

"I wonder what those pinpricks of light are... We don't have anything like that except for the glowfish..." Sam trailed off, taking in the occasional rock protruding from the sea, and the endless expanse of sky that somehow seemed even wider than the barrier connecting sea and this newfound _air_.

The mermaid giggled again, pleased with herself and no longer as worried as she noticed that this air really was thinner. Her breasts seemed to have a weight to them they hadn't had in the ocean's protective embrace.

And the waves were so obvious up here, visible to the eye as they gently propelled her along despite the constant swish of her tail keeping her afloat.

Sam set her back to the water, letting herself float in the wide emptiness surrounded by the darkness.

Was the whole world like this? Lapping water against rocks, shrouded by a barrier with pinpricks of light?

If so, Sam found she really didn't mind.

But something hung at the edges of her mind. If this was so, then where were all the humans? If they were above the water, there must be something keeping them out of it.

 _Ships,_ She suddenly remembered from a WOOMP lesson. _Humans live on ships that sporadically dot the surface, where greedy humans kidnap our fish and our comrades._

Were they constantly afloat?

Sam had too many questions that she just couldn't answer. She sighed, letting the questions go as she gently floated along the water's surface, Heptarus underwater and absolutely fine with it from his position on her back.

She was probably close to falling asleep with the lull of the water when she heard it again.

The _pop_ sound. It seemed to crackle up here too, making her ears tingle in a funny way.

She jolted upwards, looking around herself quickly as her hair seemed to heavily stick to her exposed shoulders. She frowned at it, before lowering herself where only her neck protruded from the ocean.

 _Pop. Pop pop, pop pop._ The sounds were always closely in succession of each other, and they sounded like they were coming from over there.

Samanthalassa looked at the sky, seeing some of the pinpricks change color, bouncing off of each other. Her eyes glowed with the light a moment as she ducked beneath the surface and swam towards the sound, occasionally pulling up above to check she was still going the right way.

It was after meeting a particularly large rock in the sea that she was rewarded.

These popping things weren't the same as the pinpricks like she originally thought. They were coming from the large blob floating on the water's surface.

 _A ship!_

She couldn't understand why these humans were sending things to pop under the pinpricks. Maybe it was their way of marking the barrier, since air was too thin for them to swim up and observe like she had.

Maybe she should take a closer look?

 _ **Stop it** Samanthalassa. You got your surface visit, and you were lucky you didn't get yourself killed or worse. You're just asking for trouble by getting any closer to that ship. Don't discredit your family and your kingdom!_

 _But..._

The what ifs swirled in her head with the curiousity, the desire to see these primitive creatures. To understand them.

The truth was that she was unsure if they were really as primitive as she'd been taught. (The artifacts she had hidden away spun a very different story!)

Maybe it was fate or destiny that propelled her towards this ship on this night. Or maybe it was merely a coincedence. Either way, it marked the official beginning of it all.

* * *

 **Sooooooo? What did you think? Leave me a review and let me know!**

 **Also, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys! (Yes, I am still alive, though I haven't been on here in MONTHS! Yikes!)**

 **Still fighting my old computer to try to recover everything I had for this archive and my other stories, but no success so far... T_T**

 **Buuuuuuuut I did have this on my new computer, and I've already started chapter 3, so I decided that this was a must upload the next time I was in Wifi range.**

 **So here you go! I hope you guys enjoy and are reassured that this isn't completely abandoned... :'-) (Alsoooooo our favorite smirking prince!)**

* * *

Samanthalassa took a deep breath. She was diagonally under the ship, staring up at the offending and occasionally creaky contraption with a complicated mix of emotions.

Should she or should she not take the chance to see the ship's inhabitants up close?

Heptarus seemed to think so, to her surprise.

"Think of it this way, Princess. By getting your curiousity out of the way, you can get rid of the fascination and intrigue for these slobs now. Then, you'll never have need to visit the surface and threaten your livelihood ever again."

She couldn't seem to explain to him the bubbling feelings in her chest that made her believe that once she did this there would be no going back, no reversal, no forgetting of whatever she saw.

And yet, she found herself breaking the surface again anyways.

A deep breath of _air_ chilled her, and yet motivated her to take hold of something resembling brown seaweed hanging off the ship, and pull herself to a strange little hole somewhat high on the ship's side.

There was just enough space for her to completely hide her body below the little ledge looking up and into the action.

She felt Heptarus' grip tighten on her shoulder, and took it as a silent reprimand/encouragement to 'suck up!'.

Sam slowly lifted her head, trying not to attract any attention as she only raised her head high enough for her eyes to peek onto the deck.

There was a large circular thing nearby casting her spot in just enough shadow to hide her and her bright hair almost completely.

The music alone was enough to cover up her little gasp as her wide eyes raised higher to take in the rich sight before her.

Humans were a lot like merpeople.

From the waist up, she could almost imagine all these people were merpeople, wearing fancy covers on their torsos.

They had eyes, and noses, and ears, and hair. Their arms weren't discolored or putrid, or like the ogres she'd seen in human books.

And they danced around easily in this air, on their leegs.

Her eyes jumped to each new human she saw, fascinated by their similarities and their differences, somewhat shocked that they seemed so... _friendly_.

Their voices held a timber in them that no merperson had, and yet it was still beautiful, but in a less transcendant way.

At least, until she heard **_his_**.

The music became jaunty, somewhat mocking.

"Prince Timothy, I challenge you to a duel!" She could see the strong man in front of her, large muscles tracing up his arms. He wasn't one of the prettier men on this ship, and his coverings were a little less fancy than some of the others she'd seen.

"Do you really?" A rich chuckle accompanied this melodic voice. She strained her head, but she couldn't see who this wonderful voice belonged to. She sighed, disappointed. Her disappointment didn't last long though.

"Yes Your Highness! We want proof of your prowess." Two boots stepped just barely into her view, and she saw some sort of fabric fall behind him as he pulled a sword from his belt.

"Then proof you shall have." He was too close to her hiding spot for her to see anything but his legs in black slacks.

The other man took out a less ornate sword, and spread his stance, narrowing his eyes. She almost laughed at how comical he seemed. But Sam was more worried about the melodic voice in black slacks and boots.

She shouldn't have been, in the end.

He and his opponent side-stepped each other in a fascinating dance, occasionally jabbing at each other and then retreating. As they turned farther and farther around in their circle, Sam saw more and more of the mystery man revealed to her eyes.

First, a billowing white chest covering that seemed more beautiful to her than any of the ornate costumes she'd seen thus far.

Next, the rippling movement of his back muscles, and his wide shoulders. Rich dark hair in a short style.

But when finally she caught sight of his face, Samanthalassa couldn't stop the gasp that left her lips.

His skin was sunkissed, his cheekbones were high, he seemed to be even more beautiful than the statue of adonis in the palace.

But the most striking feature of this man was the jewels he had instead of eyes. All these other humans had greys, and blues, and greens, and browns. But the owner of the melodic voice had eyes the color of _sea foam_.

Her eyes didn't even dart to the ocean behind her, so certain in the hue of his eyes that she couldn't tear her gaze away.

His opponent, the comical man, was dripping (Sam wondered where the water was coming from) and starting to look tired, his movements slower and more sluggish.

But the handsome man, the beautiful man, only smirked. He wasn't tired, and his movements held a grace as opposed to the clunky movements of his companions.

He exuded a danger that the mermaid could only compare to sharks. The shiver down one's spine when pursued by the fearless predators coupled with a warm blooming in her chest.

How could a human be so... _filling_?

Something about him seemed to fill her to the brim, captivate her in a way that absolutely nothing had ever done before.

Heptarus would tell her later that she had had the dreamiest look on her face he had ever seen in his life.

The black-clad man had sent his prey sprawling onto the deck, bringing his sword only a short distance from his neck. Sam could feel her stomach roil with anxiety, and a smidge of fear seeing the darkness on the beautiful man's face.

"Surrender?"

"Y-Y-Yes, Your Highness. I surrender!" The prince remained in his position a moment longer, before withdrawing his sword, sheathing it once more.

The deck was silent for a moment, the other people on it seeming to realize that they were this man's potential prey.

But then the music resumed, and little by little, the ice seeming to grip the people thawed, and the laughter and chatter came back.

It was only when the shiny black boots (the shiniest) left her vision that Sam seemed to snap out of her trance. For a moment, she'd almost craned her head into the ship to find him, but a hard jab from Heptarus into the small of her back returned her sensabilities.

Samanthalassa saw a man approaching her hiding spot, and quickly let go of the ledge, falling into the sea and under the surface with only a moment to spare before the intruder was looking over the railing.

The ship had left her in its wake before she started to move again, quickly examining her surroundings and propelling herself into deeper waters and towards home.

Neither she nor Heptarus said a single word in all of this.

But one thing remained on her mind long past finding her bed once more.

And his name was Prince Timothy.

 **0oOo0**

She went to the surface again.

Despite telling Heptarus that her curiousity was satisfied, Samanthalassa couldn't help herself.

She needed _more_. More than what she'd seen in one night.

So she went up again. And again. And again.

Each time she was absolutely unyielding in not being seen or suspected, but each time it was like a drug pulling her back.

The second time, the ship was a different shape, and _he_ wasn't on it.

The third time, it was a smaller boat with men using nets to trap fish and take them away. (She may or may not have sabotaged their efforts).

She realized that maybe the beautiful man wouldn't come back again. And that left her with a query more terrifying than any she'd come across before.

Where had he gone?

Heptarus seemed to know things, but she couldn't ask him. She couldn't make him suspicious of her, just like she had to keep her newfound fascination from Cloversa and Alexandrana. (Which kept getting harder).

In her desperation to see this man again, Samanthalassa considered doing something she'd never done before.

Tempting the surface during the day.

It wasn't new for her to sneak off. She did so every once and a while, and the guards always lost her, and they allowed her this because she was WOOMP's best agent, and they feared her father.

But this was different from exploring a shipwreck.

This was even more dangerous.

Maybe she was tempting fate by doing something this stupid. But Sam found she didn't care, something even more frightening.

So she went even farther away from her home than she'd ever tempted before, before making her way to the surface behind the cover of a tall rock protruding the surface.

Her head pierced the surface easily, this dangerous game she was playing second nature by now.

Guilt flooded her chest as she rememebered all the lies she told by omission. All the fancy parties she stood as princess at that meant nothing to her now.

Her eyes roamed the calm waters and their quiet boundaries quietly, taking in the sky's beauty, and the endless birds above her, flying in the air.

"Haven't seen one of your kind in a while." A voice chirped besides her. Sam jumped, diving almost completely back under the surface, only her eyes peeking out.

"No worries." The same voice chirped, and Sam realized that it was coming from a bird perched on the taller outcropping of the rock. She let her torso emerge from the water once more.

"Oh... Hello!. . . . What do you mean 'my kind'?" Sam questioned, genuinely curious. She thought she was the only one to venture up, but on second thought, that was ridiculous considering that her father had only declared the rule after her mother's death so long ago.

"Merpeople used to be up here all the time, but that was ages ago. Suddenly, they just weren't around anymore, and most of the humans forgot about them, or thought they were only a myth."

"You mean, humans and merpeople used to... talk to each other?"

Her newfound companion seemed to laugh. "No, it was more a quiet coexistance thing. What brings you up here?"

Samathalassa paused. Then again, this bird couldn't really tell anyone she knew what she was up to, so what was the point in holding back? She decided to still be prudent.

"I'm studying the humans. Well, I mean, I guess I'm trying to figure out where they go on their ships... Do they just float around forever?"

"Noooooo," The bird cocked its head at her. "Eventually, most humans take their ships back to land, and that's where they all build their homes."

"Land?" What was this new thing?

"Land. It's where the bottom surface of the water inclines up to form a surface that's huge and heavy, but surviving above the water, like this rock."

"So you mean humans live on big rocks like this?"

The bird seemed to laugh at her again. "A really, really, really big rock. One of them is that way." It cocked it's beak to her right.

Samanthalassa turned her gaze in that direction and squinted.

It strangely enough did seem that a thick black line smudged on top of the line seperating sea and sky, a new word she'd learned, was over there.

"Thanks!" And with that said, she sped off, only about a meter under the surface, towards the steadily larger line ahead of her.

Of course, Sam kept an eye out for boats, but she was really too excited to hold back or wonder if this was dangerous.

It took a long while, but eventually, the large smudge became so big that she couldn't see past it anymore.

It looked like a sandy covered cliff like underwater, but with thinner seaweed.

There was a large palace standing farther away, and Sam watched the pretty building curiously.

Did all humans live in there, or only the royal ones like her family? What did it look like inside? What kinds of interesting trinkets did they have?

She stayed watching the beach from behind a rock 20 yards in the water for a while, watching the sun move along the sky.

And then she became one with the water once again.

 **-/-|^|-\\-**

Gladis was helpful. Gladis was the bird that had helped her find land, and who was quite advanced compared to some of the other birds Sam met.

She also taught Sam words like _telescope_ , _rosary_ , and _gear_ to explain some of the human gadgets Sam brought up to ask about.

Gladis couldn't always explain why it existed or what it did, but she could generally tell her the name of the thing.

When Sam asked why she was so different compared to the other birds, Gladis shrugged and said her master had made her that way.

One day, Gladis brought her back a beautiful surprise.

Sam had been at her usual post near the beach, studying the humans on the shore and trying to find the beautiful one with no success. Maybe he never left his palace?

If so, she'd never see him again, and that generally made her too sad to stay above the surface.

Gladis had soared into a landing, a couple of trinkets tangled in mesh in her beak. When Sam had untangled the mesh, two small trinkets appeared before her.

One was an image.

A small, oval frame with a cutout in the black interior that revealed a mirror image of the handsome sea foam man.

Sam had never seen anything of such a beautiful likeness before.

It was colorless, with a slightly rosy hue, so she couldn't appreciate the rich color of his hair or eyes, but she was able to trace along his sharp cheekbones and appreciate the fancy torso covering he wore in the image.

"Gladis, this is perfect! Where did you get it?" Sam hugged the image to her chest, grateful beyond anything she could express of this gift, this captured moment.

She could see his face again, even if it wasn't the same.

Gladis shrugged. "It was on one of the tables near a window, was going to get knocked over at some point eventually. The picture should survive underwater as long as you don't open the frame."

Her eyes glistened, and for a moment, Sam worried that she was melting or leaking. The feeling soon passed however, and she let her shoulders relax again.

Gladis tapped her beak on the other item, something cylindrical.

"What's this?"

"Open it, Princess. This might be even better."

"I doubt anything could surpass this treasure you've given me." Sam obeyed though, unrolling the item to reveal a flat sheet with squiggly characters on it that were very dissmilar to Atlantian characters, but similar enough to tell her this was a human language.

Squinting, Sam tried to decipher the words, not having much practice with them in the few surviving tomes she'd deciphered in her grotto.

 _Prince Timothy takes his ship tonight._

 _Be quick about it._

There weren't many words, and she couldn't understand all of it, but somehow the redhead knew _Prince Timothy_ was the man she was looking for.

She'd have to be extra vigilant around the surface to hope to see him!

By the time she looked up from the loopy characters, Gladis was gone, likely to pursue some fish or something.

But Samanthalassa barely noticed as she took the beautiful gilded frame into her hands and dove back below the surface with it, heart soaring on air.

* * *

 **Hehehe... It was a pretty long chapter, so I hope you guys liked it and the context I set up. (As in, I gave Sammie time to obsess about Prince Smirking before any big choices.)**

 **Big stuff starts happening next chapter, and I'll try not to be too crappy about when it comes out! Again, I hope you all enjoyed this, and review. I'd love to hear your thoughts! ;-)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello lovely people! Here is the third installment of _Ocean Breath_ , and I have to say that a _lot_ happens in this one, so I hope you all enjoy! ;-)**

* * *

Something was wrong with Sammie.

Clover and Alex were certain that something was going on with their bestie, besides the occasional criminal catch or party.

Something that she wasn't telling them. Alexandrana originally thought maybe Sam had new friends, merperson or not, that she wasn't sharing with them. Cloversa thought there was only one thing to do.

Snoop through Sam's stuff when she wasn't around.

Sam was well organized, and Alex felt a little weird about going through her brassier drawer, but Clover just rolled her eyes and said that embarrassment usually worked better than locks anyways.

Both frustrated sirens were close to giving up when a swipe of Alex's golden tail knocked aside Sam's pillow. She was about to put it back when she noticed the glint of gold.

"Clover, come look."

"What is it Alex?" The aforementioned mermaid was already holding the strange oval object in her hands, flipping it around until she found the face beneath the strange surface.

"Oooh, he's a hunk! Maybe Sammie's finally found herself a merman, though I don't see why she wouldn't tell us. We didn't scare anyone away too badly!"

"But what is he wearing?" Alex gestured to the strange chest covering he wore.

Clover shrugged, not really interested. "It doesn't matter, that face matters! He probably has one of those sexy tails."

Alex frowned. She didn't understand why, but looking at this image caused unease to gnaw along her insides. Nothing good could come of this.

 **-/-|^|-\\-**

Sam's heart had soared with joy when she'd been lucky enough to not only escape her room, but also find that same ship she'd seen her first night above the surface dotting the sea once more.

The cheers and shouts of the people on the ship were loud as Sam watched them from through her little hole a second time. This time, nothing blocked her view of the handsome prince.

He was dressed nicely, in more black, and a dark red _shirt_ with golden braiding on it. Sam thought he'd probably look dashing in anything he wore, with that smirk upon his features as he surveyed the workings of his ship, or spoke to his butler, a man named _Lars_.

It somewhat reminded her of her father's counselors, and Dean, one of his favorite WOOMP agents.

Sam was content just to watch Prince Timothy from her little spot, dreamily imagining his beautiful gaze meeting her own, what a real smile would look like from his lips as her fingers would finally be able to touch him and find out if he was as wonderful as he seemed.

Falling water from the sky- _rain_ \- had started to pelt the vessel gently, and Sam had started to pout at the idea that the beautiful man would move somewhere she couldn't see to avoid its reach.

At least, until men tore from the main cabin, all of them holding swords and nasty expressions. In only seconds, screams filled the air as the ugly barbarians began to slash their way through the guests.

Sam felt fear trickle down her spine as she clutched the ledge she hid on, transfixed by the horror. Her heart clenched as she watched Prince Timothy pull his sword from his belt, fighting off several of the bad men at a time as Lars and other passengers rushed to lower a smaller boat into the sea.

He was graceful and powerful as his sword made pointed hits. But she couldn't help the disgusted horror when his weapon slid through another man, and he used his boot to leverage his sword back out from the flesh.

But he was defending himself, even as he was hit in the head from behind, and slashed in the shoulder by another.

The seas grew choppy as if it could sense the calamity aboard the ship, the night sky blackened by clouds so sudden that Sam would've suspected her father.

Even as the prince let out a dark growl, Sam feared for his life. She hummed a low tone under her breath, trying to channel the few of her mother's teachings she remembered.

A jet of water burst up from the surface, seeping into the ship past her and tripping a man just as he lunged to kill _her_ prince.

The man fell backward onto another, clearing a path for the prince to gain higher ground against his opponents.

But even as the prince continued to fight off four men, a white streak traversed the heavens with a resounding boom, lighting the ship's mast up orange with audacious strength and power that traveled down the mast instantly, lighting up more and more of the wooden ship each instant.

" _FIRE!_ " Someone shouted, their voice drowned out by cutting wind that only pushed more of the hot orange waves over the ship.

Sam heard a man scream as the orange waves overtook his arm, and she gasped, afraid of such a thing, able to destroy flesh instantaneously.

The prince was bleeding, red liquid decorating his perfect features as his attackers continued to diminish.

But a man called out for his attention across the ship.

"Say _goodbye_ , Your Highness!" His cruel face lit up with another white flash as he pushed three barrels of what looked like black sand onto the deck.

The prince's eyes widened, and he started to run for the railing, towards where the smaller boat was rocking roughly in the water.

But Sam had already long let go of the vessel, ripped away by the harsh winds and rocky waters, thrown so far away from the boat that it took long moments to reorient herself.

When she resurfaced, the ship was far and she was fighting the enormous waves to stay above the surface, desperate to see if the prince was alright.

Then the most horrifying thing she'd yet seen happened.

The loudest boom she had ever heard in her life exploded the ship, sending fragments of wood everywhere as the shock wave pushed her beneath the surface again.

Fear propelled her once again towards the surface, where the flames continued to light up the surrounding water, waves still as large as whales fighting her as she dipped above and beneath, trying her hardest to find him.

Black smoke burnt the sky, rising thickly as if carrying lost souls with it.

But Sam was determined, her green eyes wide with desperation as she searched the black waters for any sign of him.

Her eyes finally found gold with brown as she spotted him laying prone against a jagged piece of wood.

But even as she lunged towards his driftwood, a wave dumped him below the unforgiving waters.

Sam gasped as she threw herself under the surface, eyes roving as she dove towards where she'd last seen him.

Her heart was pounding as she dove towards his sinking body, his limbs pushed by the water aimlessly. Immediately, she threw her arms under his, clutching his chest as her tail fought to pull his water-logged body back up before he became a corpse.

She fought desperately to regain the surface, constantly turning to make sure his face stayed above the water as his limp body rocked with the waves, her tail and arm fighting the water as she tried to, to find _anything_ that could help her get him to shore!

Samantha pulled him along with all she had, adrenaline pulsing through her body as she swam, refusing to let go.

The sea threw them, smacking them between angry waves as nevertheless she persisted.

The sky was a deep plum when she finally caught sight of the shoreline, and fought to drag his body up the sand where the water could claim him no longer.

Sam finally allowed herself a breath of air as she stared down at him, his limp body askew and crooked in the sand.

She could barely see the rise and fall of his chest, and she prayed that he wouldn't die, that her efforts weren't for nothing as he lay here before her.

That he wouldn't wither away like the remnants she'd seen below the surface in places she was never supposed to see.

His head was crooked in the sand, letting her see the large streak of red that came from his temple and trailed down the side of his face. His clothes were ripped, and she could see his toes because she'd gotten rid of his remaining boot to decrease the weight ages ago.

Her hand came down to trace under his shirt, looking for his heart. It still beat, but with no fervor, so slow that she felt the strange leaking sensation at her eyes again.

What could she do? She was no healer, and she didn't know how to save him from this terrible fate.

She let her hands trail up to his head, a gentle hand turning his face towards her, the other carefully sweeping his salty bangs to the side as she caressed his features.

She began to hum, a mix of high and low tones from deep inside of her as she studied him, just wishing she'd gotten to look into his sea foam eyes once. It felt like she was losing him, even though he'd never been hers to begin with.

But it was when she'd hummed an especially low tone that she felt the vibration inside of him. Sam hummed it again, feeling something move inside of him.

Hope swelled within her as she hummed, the sun warm on her back as the vibrating suddenly stopped.

" _Please,_ Tim." She pleaded with him, "You have to live, Tim."

" _You have to see what I cannot, you have to live despite the odds, don't let the ocean take you from me_ -" His body shook as he coughed water out onto the sand, his beautiful eyes opening just a crack as he tried to see her against the bright sunlight.

She was dark, but her green eyes shone. Tim halfheartedly wondered if he was dead, long from being truly conscious.

Sam watched his sea foam eyes crack open, and then lapse shut again, as he fought to regain life. She had fully forgotten herself in that moment on the warm sand, just relieved that his heart was picking up under her fingertips, that he returned to her.

She beamed at him warmly, like some sort of angel, until a dog's barking made her freeze, looking away and then quickly pulling away, leaving him cold where she had been beside him.

His eyes lazily lapsed between open and closed as he lay there in direct sun, his head gradually registering a voice until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He tensed, immediately moving away and pushing his torso up despite the pain it brought him, only to come face to face with Lars.

"Oh, Timothy!" The older man breathed, his hand affectionate as Tim reluctantly let him place it on his shoulder again, his head clearing as he pushed himself up off the sand with minimal help.

His head spun as he tried to sort between his attempted assassination, how he'd made it to the beach, and the woman who had just been beside him.

Lars was absolutely besides himself with joy, and while most of him was annoyed at the inane chatter while his head was still leaping to catch up, the fact that he knew there was one person who actually had truly cared whether he lived or died was a nice one. Not that he'd ever admit it.

"There were assassins on my ship." He said suddenly, cutting off whatever Lars had been saying as the older man froze to take in his words. "They were obviously for-hire mercenaries, and no real concern, but they had made sure the ship was _well-stocked_ with _gunpowder_."

Lars looked like he wanted to say something, but he knew his master was irate, and stayed silent throughout his little recap. "I have no recollection after that besides a woman of some sort who may have assisted." He refused to admit she'd perhaps saved his life as he stood there without evidence of a woman having ever existed except for a divet in the sand next to him.

He stared at the strange form of the divet, even as Lars dared put his arms around his shoulders. "Either way, I thank the Lord that you're alive and mostly well."

He scowled at his only tolerable constant companion as they turned to return up the beach towards his palace.

"There is no 'lord', and I don't call almost getting _murdered_ by pathetic mercenaries 'well'."

"That's why I said _mostly_ , Sire. We will begin looking into whichever traitors got mercenaries onto your ship as soon as you get that wound checked over."

Sam watched this faint exchange from behind the cover of a rock within the water, having thankfully snapped back to her senses at the barking of the strange brown creature accompanying one of the men from last night.

She'd felt unfettered relief at seeing Tim's eyes open, seeing his eyes actually look at _her_ despite their haziness.

She had actually managed to save his life, and although that was still a life that she had no part of, it would have broken her if he'd died.

Because though she had no name for them yet, Samanthalassa had feelings for Tim - _Prince Timothy, when had he become Tim to her?-_ and they were certainly not going away anytime soon.

As she swam away from what was _his world_ , she swore that she would see him again. She just didn't know then that their worlds would collide.

Gladis wasn't the only pair of eyes that took in the scene on the beach with fascination. But not all eyes are kind.

* * *

 **So yeah! Sammie's got some skills that are probably going to make some more eventual appearances, I don't know yet.**

 **I was excited because this is the absolutely powerful moment of the story where everything changes for them both!**

 **Also, had to have some mercenaries so Scam could kick their butts XD**

 **Still thinking about if the next part is going more _Little Mermaid_ (like most of it) or drawing from HCA...**

 **ANYWAYS! Let me know what you think, if you totally loved it, etc! ;-)**

 **Life continues to be a jerk, and I continue to soldier on...**


End file.
